The Hindu : Sport / Golf : Day of records for Mukesh

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Sunday, Apr 10, 2005

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Sport - Golf

Day of records for Mukesh

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 9. Mukesh Kumar reached a new high in his golfing career when he tallied the lowest-ever winning score of 30-under by an Indian on way to winning the Rs. 10-lakh DDA Open golf championship at the Qutab Golf Course here on Saturday.

Mukesh's 89th career-title came after he carded a seven-under 63 on the final day for an astounding four-round tally of 30-under 250, six strokes clear of joint runners-up Vishal Singh and Yusuf Ali.

On a day when soaring mercury and the India-Pakistan one-day match resulted in a very thin final-day gallery, Mukesh fired nine birdies and dropped two shots to enlarge his overnight lead to seven. The effort fetched Mukesh a cheque for Rs. 1.62 lakh. Vishal and Yusuf Ali, who produced an identical 65 on this day, finished at 256 and ensured Rs. 87,500 each. Lost in the background was Vinod Kumar's career-best card of 10-under 60 that catapulted him to the fourth spot.

Vinod, who shot an `eagle' and nine birdies, tallied 257 and made sure of Rs. 51,000.

But today, all eyes were on Mukesh who was in pursuit of Shiv Prakash's Tour record of 24-under that came in the TSM Open at the Aravalli Golf Club course at Faridabad in 2000.

Mukesh smashed it by a whopping six-stroke margin.

In the process, Mukesh also re-wrote the lowest-ever winning score by an Indian.

The previous record stood in the name of Jeev Milkha Singh, who shot 26-under in winning the Philip Morris Asia Cup title on the Asian PGA Tour in Korea in 1996.

Tour records

Mukesh already holds the Indian Tour records of winning most titles and maximum earnings in a season. Last week, he claimed the biggest winner's cheque on the Tour.

"I think a score of 30-under is something that can make any golfer, anywhere in the world, feel very happy. I know this course was easy but then it was same for everyone. But still, I value my last week's 15-under at the Delhi Golf Club course (while winning the Rs. 50 lakh PSPB Open) more. It was a bigger event and I came good when it really mattered," said Mukesh after winning his sixth title of the season.

In fact, Mukesh had moved to 31-under after a missed `eagle' on the 15th. A bogey on the 16th brought him down to 30 and he settled for pars on the remaining two holes.

" I think my putting worked well today. As you saw, I was never threatened (by Vishal and Yusuf). I guess, after my 11-under card on Friday, they knew they could not catch me," said the champion.

The scores: Mukesh Kumar (64, 64, 59, 63) 250; Vishal Singh (65, 64, 62, 65), Yusuf Ali (62, 64, 65, 65) 256; Vinod Kumar (66, 66, 65, 60) 257; Gurbaaz Mann (67, 66, 62, 63) 258; Rafick Ali (61, 64, 69, 65) 259; Ashok Kumar (63, 65, 67, 65) 260; S. P. P. Chaurasia (65, 65, 68, 64) 262; Feroz Ali (66, 66, 68, 63), Amardip Sinh (67, 66, 62, 68), C. Muniyappa (62, 64, 69, 68) 263; Praduman Singh (66, 63, 68, 67), Vikrant Chopra (A) (64, 64, 68, 68) 264.

Ajeetesh Sandhu (A) (67, 68, 66, 64), A. S. Lehal (67, 67, 65, 66), Shamim Khan (67, 66, 66, 66) 265; Anura Rohana (Sri) (65, 69, 68, 64), Ajay Gupta (69, 63, 67, 67) 266.

Harinder Gupta (65, 69, 66, 67), Mohammad Salim (65, 68, 66, 68) 267; Gurki Shergill (67, 70, 65, 66), Shiv Prakash (69, 64, 67, 68), Digvijay Singh (67, 65, 66, 70) 268; Sanjay Kumar (65, 72, 67, 65), Manojar Dike (69, 67, 67, 66), Suleman Ali (66, 70, 66, 67), Indrajit Bhalotia (65, 68, 68, 68) 269; D. S. Raghuvanshi (67, 70, 67, 66), Uttam Singh Mundy (67, 67, 70, 66), Amritinder Singh (67, 69, 67, 67) and Rajiv Niranjan (66, 65, 71, 68) 270.

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